s t i c k s
a n d
s t o n e s
h o u s e

the sticks and stones house is located in corner brook, newfoundland, canada on the east side of town off of station road the late clyde farnell spent over 25 years of his life meticulously decorating the interior of his home, using tiny stones and thousands of popsicle sticks arranged in patterns on walls, shelves, cupboards, ceilings and door frames folk art paintings and three dimensional art completely cover every wall in the house, creating a warm feeling of a man who cherished everything from pop can lids to the front grills of old cars

when he died and others entered the house, his secret amazed the neighbors the university was notified and soon the house became protected as a folk art museum farnell was blinded in one eye as a child by a popsicle stick, which undoubtedly led to his obsession the number of popsicle sticks that cover the walls and ceiling are estimated at 53,000 our tour guides were an older man who was one of farnell's neighbors, and an eleven year old who is clyde farnell's grandson

 

where did he get all the popsicle sticks?

he bought them off the kids for ten cents

we've had it open for six, seven years now and it's hard to keep it going in the wintertime - keeping the lights and the oil going and everything

he wants to sell the house, do you know how much he's asking for it?

sixty-thousand dollars we clean it up three times a year - dust it, sweep it out, clean all the pictures and everything

this box over here, someone broke into it once couldn't break the locks so he used a crowbar some papers and things in there - there used to be money in there but it's all gone he had a lot of money stolen from here.

when you were young would you visit your grandfather a lot?

i was up here just about every day - he was a lot of fun

location: 12 farnell's lane, corner brook

admission: $2.00 adults; $1.00 students; under 12 $0.50

season: june, july, & august

telephone: (709) 634-3275/639-8156

[ no need to click ]

the sign on the front porch of the house

a picture of the house during the winter

a corner of the entryway

a photograph of clyde farnell surrounded by the things he loved

a view of the living room

patterns on the living room ceiling

one of clyde farnell's paintings

a wall of the bedroom

a photograph of clyde farnell in one of his frames containing bicycle reflectors and stones

a unique wall construction composed of popsicle sticks and found objects

another wall construction

an interesting assemblage made of stones and eyeglass lenses

a curious juxtaposition

a view of the bathroom wall outside the shower

a decorative light switch

a corner of the parlor

the kitchen cabinets

one of clyde farnell's paintings in an elaborate frame

a planter with eyeglasses and a rabbit's foot

 


Send Email

Page designed by cbird revised by bongoboy productions
Copyright © 1996 - 2001 All RIghts Reserved